ALASKA STATE LEGISLATURE  SENATE RESOURCES STANDING COMMITTEE  April 2, 2018 4:03 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT Senator Bert Stedman Senator Kevin Meyer Senator Bill Wielechowski Senator Click Bishop MEMBERS ABSENT  Senator Cathy Giessel, Chair Senator John Coghill, Vice Chair Senator Natasha von Imhof COMMITTEE CALENDAR  CONFIRMATION HEARING(S) Board of Fisheries Orville Huntington Al Cain - CONFIRMATIONS ADVANCED Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) Antony Scott - CONFIRMATION ADVANCED PREVIOUS COMMITTEE ACTION  No previous action to record WITNESS REGISTER ORVILLE HUNTINGTON, appointee Fairbanks, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Re-appointee to the Board of Fisheries. AL CAIN, appointee Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Re-appointee to the Board of Fisheries. ANTONY SCOTT, appointee Anchorage, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: New appointee to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA) MARK RICHARDS, representing himself Fairbanks, Alaska POSITION STATEMENT: Testified in support of Orville Huntington's and Al Cain's reappointments to the Board of Fisheries. ACTION NARRATIVE 4:03:00 PM ACTING CHAIR KEVIN MEYER called the Senate Resources Standing Committee meeting to order at 4:03 p.m. Present at the call to order were Senators Wielechowski, Stedman, and Acting Chair Meyer. Senator Coghill was excused. He noted the absence of a quorum but stated that members would arrive shortly. ^Confirmation Hearing(s): Board of Fisheries, Regulatory Commission of Alaska CONFIRMATION HEARING(S):  Board of Fisheries  Regulatory Commission of Alaska  4:04:15 PM ACTING CHAIR MEYER said the committee would take up appointments to boards and commissions. He asked Mr. Huntington to tell the committee why he wants to be re-appointed to the Board of Fisheries. ORVILLE HUNTINGTON, re-appointee to the Board of Fisheries, Fairbanks, Alaska, stated that he grew up in Huslia and lives in Fairbanks. He has worked for seven years at the Tanana Chiefs Conference (TCC) as Wildlife Parks Director. He has served two terms on the Board of Fisheries. He has been a subsistence fisherman for all his life and relies on the personal use fishery, as well. He used to have a commercial permit but doesn't use it anymore. He wants to serve one last term, and not more because of his health. ACTING CHAIR MEYER thanked him for his service and opened questions. SENATOR STEDMAN asked if he thought his health might be deteriorating and this may be his last term if he gets reappointed. MR. HUNTINGTON answered yes; he is at the age when it is a little bit hard to stay on a board. His uncle Sidney, who is much healthier, had a stroke at age 66. 4:06:45 PM SENATOR BISHOP joined the meeting. ACTING CHAIR MEYER found no further questions and invited Mr. Cain to tell the committee why he wanted to be reappointed to the Board of Fisheries. 4:07:12 PM AL CAIN said he was a State Wildlife Trooper for 25 years and spent another decade as the criminal justice planner for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G). He has quite an interest in Alaska's fish, game, and habitat natural resources and has spent his entire career helping protect and manage them. Two years ago, the Governor invited him to be a member of the Board of Fisheries, which has been a wonderful experience. He spent 15 years prior to that as the enforcement advisor to the Board of Fisheries. So, he has a lot of experience and background with the board. Further, his wife said he could do another term, but his main interest is making sure our great grandkids have as many or more fish to catch and enjoy as we do today. "It's an honor to be here," he said. 4:08:34 PM SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI asked if he had any concerns about the changes made to Cook Inlet management and how that will impact fish getting back to the Kenai River and the MatSu Valley. MR. CAIN replied, "Of course, I have concerns." It is an issue that has been worked on by several boards in recent years and over the decades. With the establishment of the conservation corridor and all the other concerns, Board members need to be open and listen more carefully than ever to the issues and note the source of the input. He said ADF&G has done an excellent job of managing things, but there are still a number of economic and escapement concerns. While he didn't know that those issues would ever be completely solved with the existing population base, an extreme level of care needs to be given to the number of fish that are allocated between the Kenai, Lower Kenai, and Upper Cook Inlet. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI commented that at least one of Mr. Cain's colleagues didn't ultimately live up to what he testified to on both those issues. 4:10:44 PM MR. CAIN said he was not in anybody's camp but would do the right thing for the fish and try to keep the established populations as healthy as possible. ACTING CHAIR MEYER thanked him and invited Mr. Scott to introduce himself and tell them why he wants to serve on the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA). 4:11:37 PM ANTONY SCOTT, new appointee to the Regulatory Commission of Alaska (RCA), said it's a pleasure to be here and he is honored to be considered for the position at the commission. He came to Alaska in 2000 out of graduate school. He was staff economist for the RCA and worked there for 2.5 years. MR. SCOTT said he has been involved in public service for his whole career here and is committed to serving. He is interested in serving as a commissioner for a few reasons: in general, he seeks work that involves hard problems that are of consequence and where he has good people to work with. "The commission fits the bill, certainly," he said. He spent all of his career working to provide analysis in support of other people's decisions, but he would "relish the opportunity to contribute more directly to decisions myself." This work suits him temperamentally in terms of background, skills, and capacities. 4:14:01 PM ACTING CHAIR MEYER said that he heard the answers he provided to the Finance Committee and knows where he stands on various issues. SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he was glad to see Mr. Scott in that chair. He had worked with him for many years and was impressed with him. He said, "You're straight and you're fair and you're smart, and I think you're going to be an outstanding commissioner. I wish you the very best." MR. SCOTT thanked him. ACTING CHAIR MEYER said that he also thought the state was fortunate to have someone with his talent, education, and experience seeking and wanting to be on this commission. He also noted that Mr. Scott had been involved directly or indirectly on all the different gas pipeline proposals that most of them have heard, starting back under Governor Knowles. 4:15:40 PM SENATOR BISHOP commented that the committee had another appointee a couple of weeks ago who was appointed by Jay Hammond. At that time, he said, "What's good enough for Jay Hammond is good enough for me. So, Dr. Mark Meyer hired you and that's good enough for me." 4:16:17 PM ACTING CHAIR MEYER opened public testimony. MARK RICHARDS, representing himself, Fairbanks, Alaska, said even though he is the executive director of Resident Hunters of Alaska he is testifying for himself in support of Orville Huntington's and Al Cain's reappointments to the Board of Fisheries. ACTING CHAIR MEYER found no further questions from the committee, thanked the appointees for their willingness to serve on these boards and commissions and closed public testimony. He said in accordance with AS 39.05.080, the Resources Committee reviewed the following and recommends the appointments be forwarded to a joint session for consideration: Anthony Scott from Anchorage, Al Cain from Anchorage, and Orville Huntington from Huslia. This does not reflect an intent by any of the members to vote for or against the confirmation of the individuals during any further sessions. 4:20:15 PM ACTING CHAIR MEYER adjourned the Senate Resources Standing Committee meeting at 4:20 p.m.